A riotous hybrid of alien mayhem and cabin-in-the-woods horror, this movie has a playful tone that makes it thoroughly entertaining. So even if the big emotional beats don't quite work and the plot seems to shift gears a few to many times, the film is still scary and gleefully yucky. The Vicious Brothers (aka Stuart Ortiz and Colin Minihan) clearly know their way around the various genres, and have a great time mashing them up into something inventive and involving.

It starts with plans for a romantic weekend in an isolated family cabin that's about to be sold off. April (Brittany Allen) is looking forward to time with her boyfriend Kyle (Freddie Stroma), and is more than a little annoyed that he invites his chucklehead pal Seth (Jesse Moss) and his friends Melanie and Lex (Melanie Papalia and Anja Savcic) along. Even before they connect with pot-growing neighbour Travis (Michael Ironside), their high-spirited antics have attracted the attention of Sheriff Murphy (Gil Bellows). But he's a bit preoccupied by reports of strange attacks and disappearances that are being blamed on invading aliens. Clearly there's something bigger going on here, and while Travis is sure it's a government conspiracy, Murphy's deputy Mitchell (Sean Rogerson) thinks it has more to do with a cabin full of drug-tripping teens.

The film looks terrific, with above-average effects that never take over the action. Designs reference most of the classic alien movies, but with a horror twist that makes everything a bit more menacing. And as the filmmakers deploy every cliche in the book, they also manage to keep us on our toes by constantly undermining expectations. This includes the introductory section in which April and Kyle get to develop a bit of emotional momentum in their relationship, which carries right through to the final moments of the film. Although once the craziness breaks loose, Allen and Stroma are rather a lot more limited in the subtext they can add to the characters. It's hard to add texture when you're running and screaming, although Bellows makes his skeptical, stoic cop intriguingly haunted.

April (Brittany Allen) and her boyfriend Kyle (Freddie Stroma) have organised a romantic weekend away in April's parent's cabin in the woods. To April's dismay, Kyle has invited their friends Melanie (Melanie Papalia), Seth (Jesse Moss) and Lex (Anja Savcic) and arranged for them to have a party weekend. With the party in full swing, the teenagers seen what looks like a plane crashing into the woods. Upon investigation, they discover that it was in fact a UFO with an extra-terrestrial life form inside. When the ensuing terror and surprise causes them to kill it in self-defence, they find the aliens retaliating in the worst way possible.

'The Overnighters' follows a 'Steinbeckian' story of people flocking to North Dakota during the current oil boom. The documentary focuses on the lives of the people living in squalor, desperate for work, and a local pastor who is trying to help them. Directed by Jesse Moss, the film has been called a 'modern day Grapes of Wrath' by critics for its shocking insight into the lives of everyday American citizens, scraping by in the oil industry. It explores, in vivid detail, the effects of the pressures of modern life and those of the communities effected - both pre-existing and brand new. It leads to the overwhelming question of 'what is a community?' in this beautiful snapshot of a period in American history.

Brad Harris is having what he calls a 'no-life crisis'. He is stuck in a soul destroying job and he is still living with his parents, despite him being in his mid-thirties. The one thing that holds any interest for him is bird watching. When he discovers that this year is known to 'birders' as 'The Big Year' - one year where birders set out to find as many birds in the country as possible - Brad is determined to beat the record previously set by Kenny Postick.

Tucker and Dale are two friendly hillbillies who decide to rent a cabin in the woods for a couple of weeks. With a stunning view of the lake, the friends plan to take it easy by fishing, drinking beers and relaxing in general.

Flipping the backwoods horror genre on its head, this horror-comedy is riotously entertaining mainly because we never have a clue what's going to happen next. And even if it gets a bit cartoonish and overly grisly, it's thoroughly good fun right.

Nice-guy Tucker (Tudyk) is fixing up his run-down holiday cabin in the woods with his shy pal Dale (Labine), while nine university students are camping nearby. Around the campfire Chad (Moss) recounts a incident two decades earlier in which a group of kids were massacred right here. So when Allison (Bowden) goes missing, the gang becomes convinced that Tucker and Dale are hillbilly cannibals who have kidnapped their friend. But Tucker and Dale only rescued her when she was injured swimming., and now they can't figure out why these kids are attacking them.

The potential for wartime satire is almost unbearably high in the setting for Tony Gerber and Jesse Moss's documentary Full Battle Rattle, a fact which unfortunately may have left them unable to do much more to capitalize on their subject, assuming that it would provide the context and satire for itself. This can happen sometimes to the best of filmmakers, where they become almost paralyzed by the full weight of what they're beholding. The better ones learn how to dig deeper, those on the lower end of the scale skate along the surface. Gerber and Moss are the latter.

After basic training but before they are deployed to Iraq, many fresh-minted American soldiers have another stop to make. Somewhere in the Mojave desert, the Army runs an Iraqi Potemkin village where trainees are sent to take part in three weeks of simulated missions, complete with Arabic-speaking villagers and insurgents who like to stir up trouble. Looking like a knocked-together film set, the collection of dun-colored buildings called Medina Wasl also serves as a home to the people who are "playing" the villagers. That many of the villagers are Iraqi exiles, and probably making a better and safer living than most of their countrymen, brings a bittersweet tang to their scenes, which provide some of the only elements of humanity in this otherwise colorless and dull film.

Documentary filmmaker Jesse Moss was in the presence of greatness when he attended high school in Palo Alto, California some 15 years ago. One of his classmates was a track star of seemingly unending talents, a dynamic young man with a mysterious past and a sparkling future. Unknown to Moss and everyone else, that kid was actually an exceptional impostor in his mid-20s.

Moss's Con Man attempts to track the false and confusing life of this man, a chronic and elaborate liar by the name of James Hogue. While Hogue's exploits -- and motives -- become more intriguing with time, Moss's efforts to chronicle them can leave a curious audience generally unsatisfied.

Ed Jager is "Speedo," a loser of a demolition derby driver who's impossible not to love.

Speedo is a Long Island hick, a gas station mechanic who loves his kids only slightly more than he loves winning the big $1,000 prize at the weekend demo derby. He's a truly devoted father: Ed hasn't slept in the same room as his wife for 10 years, but he won't get a divorce because he doesn't want his parents to come from a broken home. Meanwhile, Ed spends every free moment working on his junker cars down at the garage, reinforcing them and bending them back into shape in the hopes that he'll be the last car standing come the next derby.

Documentary filmmaker Jesse Moss was in the presence of greatness when he attended high school in Palo Alto, California some 15 years ago. One of his classmates was a track star of seemingly unending talents, a dynamic young man with a mysterious past and a sparkling future. Unknown to Moss and everyone else, that kid was actually an exceptional impostor in his mid-20s.

Moss's Con Man attempts to track the false and confusing life of this man, a chronic and elaborate liar by the name of James Hogue. While Hogue's exploits -- and motives -- become more intriguing with time, Moss's efforts to chronicle them can leave a curious audience generally unsatisfied.